Railway-switch.



' Patented Sept. 26, I899.

0. F. K RESS, in. RAILWAY SWITCH.

{Application filed my 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

317 w n 2W CARL F. KRESS, JR., OF JOHNSTOW'N ATEN'T Fries.

, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE JOHNSON COMPANY, OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-=SWITCi-l.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,723, dated September 26, 1899.

Application filed May 18, 1899. Serial No. 717,304. (No model) To Ml ul-hom it 71mg concern.-

Be it known that I, CARL F. KRESS, Jr., of Johnstown, in the county of Oambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway- Switches, of which the followingis a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to railway-switches of that type in which there is a tongue or point having a depending pintle at its heel end by which the tongue is swiveled to the foundation structure.

The object of my invention is to improve the durability and reliability of such switches by preventing a large part of the wear at the heel end of the tongue and thereby preventing any danger of kicking of the tongue,

which sometimes occurs when the parts at the heel end of the tongue have become loose. This sometimes shifts the tongue after the front wheels have passed onto the right track, so that the front and rear wheels may be switched to difierent tracks, derailment almost necessarily occurring. I attain the objects which I have just set forth by seating the heel end of the tongue in a recess, one wall of which takes the place of a cut-away 3o portion of the tongue at its heel end, said wall being in alinement with the guard side of the tongue. I prefer also to have the opposite wall of the recess take the place of a cut-away portion of the tread side of the tongue at its heel end, although instead of doing this I sometimes gain the same general object by carrying the wheel across the heel end of the tongue by a fiangeway formed in the floor of the fixed portion of the structure.

I also prefer to provide a removable plate,

(which may be made of unusually hard material,) which is secured to the switch structure and which has the recess and guard and tread portions herein referred to. These and 5 other portions of my invention will be more clearly understood by means of the following description.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a switch constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a section of the same through the axial line of the pintle of the tongue. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modified form of structure. Fig. 4

is a plan view of still another modification, and Fig. 5 is a section through the pintle of Fig. I.

I have shown myiinproveinent-s in connection with a switch having a foundation structure formed of a unitary steel casting, but it is of course obvious that this foundation structure may be a built-up structure or of some other specific construction than that shown. This foundation structure is represented by A.

A is the tread-surface of the branching track formed as a part of the structure A.

A is a guard portion of the structure, and forms the stop for the tongue when the latter is thrown over to shift the car to the branching track.

Bis the tongue, having the tread side B and the guard side 13 at a little higher level. The point end of the tongue, and, in fact, of the whole switch, has not been shown because that is immaterial to my present invention, 75. such portions of the structure being constructed in the ordinary manner well-known to those skilled in the art.

0 is a hard plate'as, for instance, a plate of case-hardened steelwhich is secured to the structure A at the heel end of the switchtongue. I have shown this plate removably secured in place by wedges d and zinc d. in the manner which is now well known to the art, but which is set forth more fully in the patent to Moxham, No. 540,796. This plate, as clearly shown in the sectional views, has a recess which forms a seat for the heel end of the tongue B, a circular openingbeing formed through the floor of the plate through which the depending pintle B passes, the lower end of the pintle fitting in the passage a in the foundation structure A. By seating the tongue in the harder plate I prevent a large part of the wear which ordinarily comes from seating the tongue directly on the foundation structure, and I also provide a structure in which the seating-face is comparatively distant from the bearing between the pintle and the foundation structure.

From Z), which is a point wellin advance of the axial line of the pintle, to the extreme end of the tongue I cut away a portion of the guard-1ine of the tongue and in the place of this cut-away portion I provide an upwardlyextending portion a of the wall of the recess in the plate 0. This wall 0 therefore forms a continuation of the guard-line of the tongue. This fixed guard c removes any danger of the flange of the wheel engaging the tongue atits heel and shifting the tongue. This danger, though practically negligible when all parts are in good repair, arises frequently when the tongue becomes loose on its seat and in its bearings. The same danger is to a less extent liable to arise by the weight of the wheel on the tread of the tongue at its heel end. This danger I prefer to remove by substantially the same meansthat is, the opposite wall 0 of the recess in the plate 0 occupies the place of a cut-away portion of the tongue, so that the wall 0 forms a portion of the tread-surface at the heel end of the tongue. The principal bearing of the or dinary wheel of commerce is close to the gageline, and therefore the surfaces of the wall 0 will relieve the tongue at that point of substantially all weight.

So far the description which I have given has been directed to Figs. 1 and 2, which represents the form of construction which I pre fer. In Fig. 3 I show a modification which only varies in that the plate is wider and has a tread-surface G which takes the place of a short distance of the tread-surface A. In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown this same treadsurface C but I have shown another means for protecting the tread side of the tongue at its heel end. Instead of providing a treadsurface on the wall o as in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I form a floor a on said wall, which is intended to carry the flanges of the wheels, as shown in Fig. 5, inclines 0 being provided at each end of the floor-surfaces 0 This I do not consider quite so good as the form shown in the preceding figures, because the depth of the wheel-flanges are more or less irregular, and I prefer not to count upon employing the flanges for this purpose.

It will be seen that by this construction I have greatly increased the reliability and durability of the switch without materially complicating the structure. By this construction also the whole of the top surface of the tongue is free and unobstructed, so that it is as readily removable as in switches not embodying my improvements. At the same time I am also able to remove and renew the plate whenever desired I do not desire to limit myself to the specific details which I have shown and described, for the three modifications of my invention merely illustrate three more or less preferred forms, and doubtless many other modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railway-switch, the combination of a foundation structure, a plate having a recess and secured to said structure, a tongue having a depending pintle at its heel end and seated at said end in the said recess, and an opening through the floor of said plate for the pintle, substantially as described.

2. In a railway-switch, the combination of a foundation structure, a plate having a re cess and secured to said structure, a tongue having a depending pintle at its heel end and seated at said end in the said recess, an opening through the floor of said plate for the pintle, and a guard for one side of the heel end of the tongue formed by one wall of the recess, substantially as described.

In a railway-switch, the combination of a tongue having a depending pintle at its heel end, a member having a recess in which the heel end of the tongue is seated, and a portion of one wall of said recess taking the place of a portion of the tread-surface of the tongue from the heel end of the tongue to a point in advance of the axial line of the pintle, sub stantially as described.

a. The combination, in a railway-switch, of a switch-tongue having a depending pintle at its heel end, a recess in which said heel end is seated, the walls of said recess occupying cut-away portions of each side of the said tongue from the end thereof to points in advance. of the axial line of the pintle, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a railway-switch, of a foundation structure, a plate secured therein and having a recess, a pivoted switch-tongue seated at its heel end in said recess, the walls of said recess taking the place of cut-away portions of the sides of the tongue, substantially as described.

6. The combination, in a railwayswitch, of a foundation structure having a recess, a plate removably secured in said recess and itself having a recess, and a switch-tongue seated in said last-mentioned recess at its heel end and having a depending pintle passing through the floor of said plate, substantially as described.

7. The combination, in a railway-switch, of a foundation structure, a plate secured to said structure, a switch-tongue seated at its heel end in said plate, an upward projection on said plate taking the place of a portion of the guardline of the tongue at its heel end, and a second upward projection at the tread side of said tongue, substantially as described.

8. The combination, in a railway-switch, of a foundation structure, a plate secured to said structure, a switch-tongue seated at its heel endin said plate, upward projections on said plate at each side of said tongue, said projections taking the place of cut-away portions of the tread and guardline of said tongue respectively, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' CARL F. KRESS, JR. Vit-nesses:

M. E. SHARPE, A. M. Mosns. 

